Poster Art Gets Frightful (In a Good Way) at If Th...

On first glance, the phrases “fine art” and “horror movie” might seem an odd pair. But, like peanut butter and chocolate, the two actually go together quite well—as evidenced by the Montreal, Quebec art show If They Came From Within: An Alternative History of Canadian Horror, premiering at the Fantasia International Film Festival this Friday, July 20th, and running through July 29th.

If checking out the poster art at this exhibit makes you hanker for a viewing of Vampire Cavemen, Tundrasaur or Farm of Frankenstein, you might be waiting for a while—the exhibit, organized by Rue Morgue editor-in-chief Dave Alexander, consists of poster art for films that don’t exist. (Yet. Director/contributor Jason Eisener’s 2011 film Hobo with a Shotgun started as a fake trailer—so who’s to say Death Photographer won’t eventually end up at a theater near you?)

To come up with the posters for these, in Alexander’s words, “Maple Syrup genre films,” some of the Great White North’s preeminent genre moviemakers, among them Eisener, Vincenzo Natali (Cube, Splice) and George Mihalka (the original My Bloody Valentine), were asked to come up with a title, tagline and synopsis for a Canadian horror film. Then it was up to some of the country’s best designers and illustrators to cook up poster art for them.

In addition to the posters, the show will introduce a multimedia element courtesy of original soundtrack recordings from Montreal musician Conrad Simon. And if you’re a design/illustration nut (or a horror film fiend) who lives in the Montreal area, be sure to cheek out the (free!) panel If They Came From Within: Talking to the Designers & Filmmakers, taking place at the Fantasia International Film Festival this Saturday, July 21st.